Area Of Policing Research Articles

Nonlinearity of the effects of police stressors on police officer burnout

PurposeThis paper aims to take a look at police‐specific factors of stress – police stressors – and to assess the effects of these factors on police officer burnout. The paper also seeks to test the linearity of these effects.Design/methodology/approachThe study focuses on four stressors: defective leadership, role conflicts, threat of violence, and time pressure. As a measure of burnout, Bergen Burnout Indicator 15 is used. The data are cross‐section in nature and come from the Police Personnel Barometer (PPB) conducted in Finland in 2008. The PPB‐survey targeted the entire police administration in Finland. The response rate was 67.2 percent (n=6,871). The current paper uses a sub‐sample of police officers (constable rank) from three functional areas of policing (n=2,821).FindingsControlling for age, gender, education, shift work, tenure and the function of the police officer, the effects of the different stressors on burnout were all statistically significant. Statistically significant and robust nonlinear effects of the stressors on burnout were also found.Originality/valueThe study introduces a new measure of stress to analyze police work. It takes a preliminary look at the reliability and validity of the measure. The study considers linear as well as nonlinear effects of the stressors on burnout and suggests that the effects under scrutiny are essentially nonlinear.

Safety or Liberty?: The Bogus Trade-Off of Cross-Deputization Policy

The discussion of cross-deputization (mandating that police officers enforce immigration policies) is often framed as a referendum on civil rights and racial politics. Those who oppose cross-deputization often maintain that asking police to target individuals based on their immigration status endangers civil rights. Those who support cross-deputization, on the other hand, argue that enforcing immigration laws is necessary to maintain a culture of lawfulness and to preserve public safety. Previous research on the psychology of legitimacy and procedural justice, however, suggests that this is likely a false dichotomy (e.g., Alpert & Dunham, 2004; Jost & Major, 2001; Tyler & Huo, 2002), a perspective we adopt in this article. Drawing on the psychological literature on legitimacy and on our own research in the area of policing and immigration, we find that ensuring civil rights—and the perception of police fairness—does not conflict with public safety in either perception or reality. Rather, the public's belief in the fairness of law enforcement is a necessary precondition of public safety and lawfulness. In other words, because law enforcement requires legitimacy to be effective, wide-ranging concerns about racism actually become a threat to public safety. Implications for public policy are discussed. “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin

Scratching the heart of the artichoke? How international institutions and the European Union constrain the state monopoly of force

In recent years, a growing literature has argued that European Union (EU) member states have undergone a profound transformation caused by international institutions and by the EU, in particular. However, the state core – the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force, embodied by the police – seemed to remain intact. The literature has argued that in this area, international institutions are weak, and cooperation has remained informal and intergovernmental. We take issue with these claims and evaluate the strength of international institutions in two core areas of policing (terrorism and drugs) over time. We find that in terms of decision-making, precision, and adjudication, international institutions have become considerably stronger over time. Even when international institutions remain intergovernmental they strongly regulate how EU member states exercise their monopoly of force. Member states are even further constrained because adjudication is delegated to the European Court of Justice. Thus, even the state core is undergoing a significant transformation.

Child Abuse Investigation: Police Officers and Secondary Traumatic Stress

Child protection is an area of police work which has expanded in the last decade, leading to an increase in the number of police officers working in departments which specialise in investigating cases of child abuse. Police officers in this field may be at greater risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress but there remains a paucity of research in this area of policing. Analogies can be drawn to existing research in policing and with social service workers involved in child protection. The paper finishes off with implications for police forces to ensure safe working environments and appropriate counselling for employees.

Police responses to diversity: A social representational study of rural British policing in a changing representational context

AbstractIn the first decade of the 21st century, British policing faced two new challenges in how it responded to social diversity: As well as instituting reforms in response to a highly publicized report describing the British police as ‘institutionally racist’ (Macpherson, 1999), they faced challenges associated with rapid increases in numbers of immigrants into the UK. Studying social representations at such times of change allows access into processes, themes and value systems that may otherwise remain hidden. This paper uses social representations theory to explore interview accounts provided by regular police officers of interactions with members of minority groups. Empirically, we focus on an area of diversity policing that has received relatively little previous attention: Police work in a rural context that has recently played host to large numbers of migrant workers. Our analysis shows that interviews operate as a site of resistance in which respondents attempt to rework hegemonic representations of the police as prejudiced and to re‐present themselves and their work as able to respond appropriately to diversity. Fairness as a defining characteristic of good police practice is a central representational theme that links identity construction processes to police work with minority groups. Recent immigrant groups are represented as both needing and deserving help to assimilate into British culture: Their lack of acculturation and language difficulties provide additional challenges to police work and to how this is judged as ‘fair’. We discuss the broader origins and implications of police officers' understandings of fairness and the use of social representations theory to study representational fields within organizational settings. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Enforcement of Morality: Law, Policing and Sexuality in New South Wales

This article addresses the policing of consensual sexual activity in public places in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It draws upon data produced during a qualitative study conducted in NSW that involved semistructured interviews with key professionals who have specialist knowledge of this area of policing. Using these interview data and an analysis of NSW Police policy documents, the article considers operational policing within the broader context of contemporary NSW law. It argues that the legal construction of public sex offences facilitates forms of police discretion that, because of the social and moral landscape in which such discretion takes place, encourages the disproportionate social control of male homosexual conduct. By thinking of policing as a dynamic arena in which competing moral values are brought into tension, the article explores how the moral decision-making of police officers (a product of their ‘moral habitus’) determines the scope and application of the law. It concludes by arguing that the ‘problem’ of selective enforcement in relation to male homosexuality lies not in policing or in ‘police culture’ but in law that allows heteronormative social morality to become translated into police practice.

The USA: the next big thing

This paper is an ensemble effort to assemble a picture of the principal issues facing the police in the USA over the next 10 years. It is a forecasting assessment of our best estimate of the likely issues facing the police, and for which we believe they should prepare themselves. Part I is an overview of current trends and important topics in policing. In this section we ask ‘where is policing today?’ Part II looks at a 10‐year window of issues as suggested by a panel of talented scholars in the area of policing. This section is organized around topical units of analysis – the sources and kinds of changes that are likely to affect the police. Drawing on the work of 14 police scholars, this will be an ensemble of their futures to which we provide our own unifying integument.

Crime and justice after the election: what are the parties proposing?

With a general election due shortly, this article sets out the main platforms of the three main political parties and discusses some of the central proposals and their implications. Policies from all parties are being trimmed to take account of anticipated reductions in public expenditure and have tended to focus on traditional areas of policing and prisons. They also focus on questions of accountability and implementation ‐ the how as opposed to the what things are done. The implications for academics and practitioners are, whatever government takes office later this year, to not only see if it is able to achieve beneficial outcomes but also to start testing its delivery mechanisms against evidence.

Human Trafficking in Scotland

This paper reports on interview-based research carried out to improve the evidence base around human trafficking in Scotland. It aims to construct a more detailed national picture of the nature and extent of the phenomenon while also examining the issues and challenges for policing and victim care in a Scottish context. In total, 79 individuals believed to be victims of human trafficking came into contact with agencies in Scotland between April 2007 and March 2008. The majority of cases involved adult female victims who had been trafficked into sexual exploitation. Overall, this research echoes the message of that carried out in other jurisdictions: human trafficking is a complex area of policing and victim care with many challenges.

Policing for Homeland Security

Since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, Federal, State and local governments have increasingly moved toward establishing Homeland Security as an institutional response to not only the threat of future terrorist attacks, but as a means of preparing and responding to natural disasters. Every plan at every level has stated that a critical element to any Homeland Security program is the local police and sheriff's departments. What specifically the police are to do under the concepts of Homeland Security has been unclear and poorly communicated and departments across the country have responded very differently from one another. To date, research in the area of Policing and Homeland Security has been lacking. This article addresses that deficiency, introduces the collection of research articles contained within this special issue of Criminal Justice Policy Review, and establishes an agenda for future research.

The Self-Reported Use of Social Equity Indicators in Urban Police Departments in the United States and Canada

a way to evaluate the delivery of services to the public (see, for example, Hatry 2006; Berman and Wang 2000; Rivenbark and Kelly 2004; Dougherty, Lindquist, and Bradbury 2006; Krane 2008). Moreover, a host of different measures have been devised to evaluate gov ernment performance and ultimately service quality (Hatry 1980). However, the literature reveals that measures or indicators of perfor mance often focus on efficiency and effective ness, key values that have dominated public administrative practices. Consequently, other important measures of performance that are valued by governments and the citizenry are ignored and go undetected. One such value is social equity. This exploratory study examines the ex tent to which police departments across the United States and Canada report that they have factored social equity into their perfor mance measurement programs. The results of a survey administered to 148 randomly selected police departments and a content analysis of their public documents provide a preliminary look at the degree to which so cial equity is reported to be an indicator of performance. Also examined are the potential factors that lead police departments to adopt social equity indicators. This article begins with a brief review of the reliance on performance measurement in the public sector generally and then looks specifically at performance measures in polic ing. The area of policing was selected given the importance of values such as social equity to this profession and the social repercussions if such values are ignored. The evaluation of the extent to which social equity indicators are present is followed by a systematic analy sis of the factors that help explain variations in the use of these indicators as performance measures.

Community policing: is field training the missing link?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which traditional field training incorporates community‐oriented policing and problem solving in its formal evaluation process. Can community policing be successfully integrated into the San Jose field training model as a formal component of training and evaluation of police recruits?Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes formal field training evaluations and narratives in one police agency that uses the San Jose Field Training Officer Program. The agency endorses and practices community policing and problem solving.FindingsField training in this agency did not successfully integrate community policing and problem solving into the formal evaluation process.Practical implicationsBecause field training occurs immediately after the academy, it is the best place to expose recruits to community policing and problem solving in practice, thus linking training with practice. If police agencies are truly committed to community policing, they must update their field training curricula to reflect the new philosophy and practice.Originality/valueThough there has been considerable research in the area of community policing, little of it focuses on training, especially field training. Ironically, even though most agencies claim to practice community policing, they have failed to prepare their officers in the philosophies and skills necessary to perform the tasks well. Police academies are beginning to train recruits in community policing, but most agencies still use the San Jose FTO model, which was developed before contemporary community policing existed. Because field training is such an important part of police socialization, it must teach recruits the skills of community policing.

A Dangerous Job? An Examination of Violence against Conservation Officers

Conservation law enforcement is an area of policing that has been largely overlooked by sociologists and criminal justice researchers. Some have speculated that when compared to their traditional police officer counterparts, conservation officers face greater dangers on the job. However, little if any research has been directed towards violence against conservation officers. Using a qualitative approach to data collection, this descriptive and exploratory study examined the nature of assaults on Kentucky conservation officers. Conservation officers reported that while physical assaults did occur periodically, they were relatively rare events. Verbal abuse from recreationists was much more common.

Neighbourhood Peacekeeping: The Inter-American Development Bank's Violence Reduction Programs in Colombia and Uruguay

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) incorporated, nearly a decade ago, violence prevention in its lending portfolio. Since the first citizen security project loan was approved, the IDB has accumulated valuable experience on the design and implementation of violence prevention operations, placing the Bank at the forefront of this type of lending in the region. To date, the IDB has financed more than US$150 million for six citizen security loans, technical cooperation projects, and international seminars and meetings. In addition, several other citizen security projects are in advanced stages of design. This report overviews the Bank's work in this area, analysing, based on available data from completed projects, what works and the challenges that remain in reducing and preventing crime and violence. For example, Colombia (Bogotá) and Uruguay have completed their operations with success in the areas of community policing, institutional strengthening, community mediation units, domestic and youth violence prevention, and social awareness campaigns. This report also presents recommendations to maximise benefits and increase the effectiveness of the interventions in future project loans. Despite the accomplishments in this area, it is important to emphasise that crime and violence prevention is not a ‘one shot deal’ but a process that ought to be sustained over time and governments in the region must fully commit to combat it.

The African post-conflict policing agenda in Sierra Leone

This article examines policing in Sierra Leone four years after the civil war. It evaluates the achievements in the area of policing against the major policing challenges in African post-conflict societies. These are recruitment and (re)training of a civilian force; establishing an organizational culture that is accountable and responsive to citizen concerns; organizational rebuilding and re-equipment; utilizing the resources of commercial and community organized policing; and establishing a sustainable basis. The research finds that for all the positive achievements, the fact remains that the government of Sierra Leone still does not exert effective control over, nor is it able to deliver state policing services to, significant parts of its own territory. The 7,000 active police officers are too small in number and too limited in resources to provide all Sierra Leone's citizens with a service that protects them from crime and investigates crime. Its fundamental weaknesses mean that post-conflict internal security programmes may have to look again at others who currently authorize and provide policing. It may be that some community led policing groups can be harnessed and if necessary reformed to assist the police in establishing the rule of law.

Effects of community policing upon fear of crime

PurposeTo identify intervening factors between perceptions of community policing and reduction of crime fear among citizen, which can provide a better understanding of the causal linkage between these two variables.Design/methodology/approachThe present study employs the research data from the 1998 study “Criminal Victimization and Perception of Community Safety in 12 United States Cities,” which was conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This study used only the personal data, which included information on respondents' demographic characteristics, personal crime and victimization experiences, perceptions of neighborhood crime, and experience and satisfaction with local police.FindingsThe finding reveals that while vulnerability variables (indirect victimization model) do not affect the relationship between community policing and fear of crime, the perception of incivilities (perceived disorder model) and the dissatisfaction with life‐quality (community concern model) in the neighborhood intervene between community policing and fear of crime.Originality/valueDespite the abundant research in the area of community policing, less attention has been paid to the causal process between community policing activities and its presumed effect, reduction of crime fear in communities. This study helps us to understand how fear of crime is reduced by the implementation of community policing.

Hot Spots Policing Experiments and Criminal Justice Research: Lessons from the Field

In this article, more general lessons are drawn from two randomized experiments in hot spots policing that the author helped design and implement in the 1990s: the Minneapolis Hot Spots Experiment and the Jersey City Drug Market Analysis Experiment. Using a case study approach, factors that facilitate and inhibit development and implementation of randomized trials are identified with particular focus on the special problems and/or advantages of place-based experiments. While the author's main comments focus on the success of place-based randomized trials in evaluating hot spots policing approaches, he draws insight as well into the reasons why the successful example of experiments in hot spots policing has not inspired similar place-based experimentation in other areas of policing or criminal justice. Eight specific lessons regarding the implementation and development of place-based randomized trials and experimental methods more generally are identified.

Measures vs actions: the balanced scorecard in Swedish Law Enforcement

Studies of organizational performance have overwhelmingly relied on evidence gathered from private sector firms. Nevertheless, the past several years have witnessed increasing interest in enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector, in turn generating considerable investment in the deployment of performance metrics in such settings. Though extant evidence provides many perceptive insights into the specifics of performance frameworks in public sector organizations, little is known about the measurement of organizational performance in police work. Our investigation drew upon the deployment of the balanced scorecard in Swedish Law Enforcement, an organization that long ago implemented the new paradigm of policing, which consisted of enhancing the quality of urban life on the mere making of arrests. Results from this investigation concur with other studies indicating that public sector organizations tend to assume a stakeholder perspective on performance measurement. In particular, Swedish Law Enforcement developed a set of measures of external success and internal performance that addressed present, past, and future time dimensions. Implementation of the balanced scorecard in police work, though, raised some problems. Our study details concern about the aggregation of non‐financial performance measures. More importantly, some crucial areas in the new concept of policing (such as community policing) were neglected by the system. Conversely, the system focused on monitoring some easy‐to‐measure indicators that provided a traditional view of police work while some crucial areas of policing were not measured. This focus ultimately lessened the operational potential of the balanced scorecard system. Our study also puts forward some suggestions for future research in this area.

Measures Vs. Actions: The Balanced Scorecard in Swedish Law Enforcement

Studies of organizational performance have overwhelmingly relied on evidence gathered from private sector firms. Nevertheless, the past several years have witnessed increasing interest in enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector, in turn generating considerable investment in the deployment of performance metrics in such settings. Though extant evidence provides many perceptive insights into the specifics of performance frameworks in public sector organizations, little is known about the measurement of organizational performance in police work. Our investigation drew upon the deployment of the balanced scorecard in Swedish Law Enforcement, an organization that long ago implemented the new paradigm of policing, which consisted in enhancing the quality of urban life on the mere making of arrests. Results from this investigation concur with other studies indicating that public sector organizations tend to assume a stakeholder perspective on performance measurement. In particular, Swedish Law Enforcement developed aset of measures of external success and internal performance that addressed present, past, and future time dimensions. Implementation of the balanced scorecard in police work, though, raised some problems. Our study details concerns about the aggregation of non-financial performance measures. More importantly, some crucial areas in the new concept of policing (such as community policing) were neglected by the system. Conversely, the system focused on monitoring some easy-to-measure indicators that provided a traditional view of police work while some crucial areas of policing were not measured. This focus ultimately lessened the operational potential of the balanced scorecard system. Our study also puts forward some suggestions for future research in this area.

Organising and Controlling Payment Card Fraud: Fraudsters and their Operational Environment

This paper discusses how payment card fraud has changed and how it is organised in relation to the prevention efforts of the card business and retailers. Various techniques have had a significant impact on the ease with which genuine cards can be obtained and used, and recent rises in counterfeits and Internet/mail-order frauds look disproportionate because these other areas are better controlled. Variations in social and intellectual capital affect crime and its organisation. To the extent that ‘plastic’ fraudsters can remain relatively unobtrusive, unconnected with ‘heavy’ crimes such as drugs and robbery, there is no need for them to ‘get organised’ in order to enjoy a profitable career: it is easy and quick for British criminals to operate in different regions of the country, or even on the Continent. The implications of smart cards plus PIN are explored, along with other key areas of public-private partnership policing.